Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my twisted plot
Everything Goes: Chapter 18:
Bella felt herself being lifted up and dragged over to a corner where a slender rope was wrapped around her neck. Bella reached down trying to yank on the material. It was strangling her. She couldn't breathe. She tried to remember what had happen to her. How did she get here? Where was here exactly? Who was trying to kill her. She could hear her sobs as she choked for air. The rope was yanked harder. She felt warm tears spring to her eyes and slowly trickle down her face as the darkness began to engulf her.
She knew that she was going to die. The attacker had found her. She would never see Jake again. She would never see her parents. Her friends. Bella scratch at the rope. She could not leave Jake like this. She could not lose him now. She knew that they belonged together. Someday he would be her husband and the father of her unborn children. It was not her time to die. Tears gushed out of her eyes.
Everything she had ever dreamed of or wanted was fading away. More tears gushed out as she felt the last bit of air slip out of her lungs as her body grew limp as she felt herself slipping down to the ground and the life she once had or could have had was gone forever.
"Stupid girl. I watched you tonight. Playing each man who looked at you. You are no better than her." A deep hoarse male voice muttered as he heard the sound of a truck blaring up in the parking lot along with the sirens of a cop car. Dropping her lifeless body to the ground he gave her one final look before he walked away from the crime scene. He knew she would probably be saved. He was okay with that. He would get her next time. Next time he would take her far away so he could do all the terrible things he sat and thought of all day while he pretended to be just a normal average guy.
This time had been far too easy. He hoped they made it harder. He enjoyed a challenge. He knew his point was made clear. He could get his hands on her whenever he wanted too. He was a patient man. He was going to kill her next time. There was no doubts in his mind that the next time he would end her worthless life. She had proven tonight at the art gallery she was just the sort of slut he had already suspected her to me. Girls like her deserved to die a horrible death. Alice had been lucky. He had not been in the mood to kill just torture. He was amazed that she had kept her mouth shut about his identity all this time. Was it possible that she now hated Bella as much as he did? Either way he proved to Alice that he was in charge and that he would not let anything or anyone get in his way ever again. He was not the type of guy to be pushed around or ignored. He was a man. A real man.
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Jake pulled into the parking lot. Jumping out of his truck he began to race around the cars calling out Bella's name.
"Bella! Bella! Baby where are you?" Jake shouted frantically as he continued running around like a lunatic.
The cop pulled up and stepped out of his vehicle staring at Jake like a potential suspect.
"Sir! You need to calm down. I need to talk to you." The police officer shouted firmly.
"My girlfriend was attacked. She called me when the guy got her. I called you guys." Jake shouted back as he kept his back turned toward the officer.
"Sir please calm down and talk to me. We will get this all work out but I need you to cooperate with me." The police officer sighed loudly as he pulled out his flashlight shining his light around the darker area.
"I can't calm down. She might be here still." Jake's voice was raspy.
"Bella! BellLLLLLaaaaa!" Jake shouted again. His heart was pounding like a jackhammer against his rib cage. He feared he would not find her at all. He was dying slowly with each second that went by that he could not locate her.
A few seconds later the parking lot was being filled with guests from the art gallery as they were making their way to their cars.
Edward stepped out from the gallery when he saw Jake shouting crazily and running about. Edward wondered what in the world he was doing? Was it possible that he was looking for Bella? Edward knew she had left several minutes before.
"Jake, Bella is gone already." Edward called out as he began to approach the parking lot.
The police officer flashed his light straight in Edward's face. Edward covered his eyes as the light nearly blinded him.
"Sir, please step toward me." The police officer ordered.
Edward snorted as he continued to cover his eyes walking toward the officer who continued to keep the light in his face.
"Ouch. I can't see." Edward scolded the officer.
"Sir, do you know this man?" The officer asked.
"Yeah, he is Jacob Black." Edward replied.
"He just called in that his girlfriend was attacked out here. We are looking for her." The officer informed Edward.
Edward felt his heart break when he realized they were talking about Bella.
"Jake." Seth's voice came from a few feet away from the police officer.
The police officer and Edward made their way toward the voice.
When they found Seth he had blood gushing out of the top of his head. Someone had smacked him a few times with something hard. Edward dropped to his knees as he recognized the young man as the co-worker who escorted Bella to the event. Edward felt his body grow rigid at the thought of someone hurting Bella like this.
He jumped back up and began to run around the parking lot as Jake had been doing.
"Jake! Did you find her yet?" Edward shouted as he sprinted across the parking lot.
"NO! Fuck!" Jake ran his hands through his hair nervously as tears streamed down his face.
"I can't find her. I promise to protect her." Jake sobbed as he continued to scan the parking area.
A second later several more police cars showed up with their lights flashing. The first police officer began to inform the others of what they were searching for. The ambulance arrived after them. Seth was placed in it right away.
Jake looked up and saw a dark shadow slump up against a parked car at the far corner of the lot. Racing as fast as his feet could take him he made it to the other side in lightning speed.
Edward followed behind him. Jake fell to his knees as he lifted her body up into his arms.
"OH MY GOD!" Edward shouted madly as he saw the rope around Bella's lifeless body.
"NO! NO!" Jake kept chanting like a crazed man as he yanked the rope off of her neck. Her head fell backwards. Jake checked her pulse. He hoped that was indeed a light pulse he felt.
"GET THE PARAMEDICS NOW!" Jake growled at Edward.
Edward raced back across the parking lot to the paramedics and cops. A couple of minutes later they were by his side as he held Bella's limp body in his arms.
"Please baby wake up. You can't die on me. I need you. I love you. You're my life Bella. I can't live without you." Jake whispered into her ear as tears streamed down his face.
The paramedic tried to get Jake to release her so they could work on her.
"Sir, please let go. We can not help her like this." The paramedic pleaded with Jake as he held on tightly to her.
"Let her go Jake." Edward pleaded.
Jake looked up at Edward with so much pain and anguish on his face that Edward understood his sorrow. He too loved Bella. It hit Edward hard. This was the reason that Bella had pushed his advances away the last time he had visited her. She was in love with her best friend and he was in love with her too. He had lost her to Jake.
The paramedics began to work on Bella with much speed. Jake slid down on the ground with his back against the car, covering his face with both of his hands as he sobbed loudly. Edward bent down in front of Jake.
"They are going to save her. I just know it." Edward's voice was low as he hoped for his sake and Jake's that he was right. He could not stand the thought of losing Bella to death. It was one thing to lose her to another man. He could live with that. He could even respect that but death was final. Neither man would be the same if they lost her tonight.
"How can you be so sure? I am….so stupid. I knew it. I knew somehow he would get her if I let her out of my sight." Jake threw his head back and forth against the car as hard as he could. He ignored the pain that it caused to his head.
"Jake you couldn't have known that someone would attack her out in the parking lot." Edward cried out furiously.
"YOU don't get it. Someone….the same asshole that hurt Alice….he has been stalking Bella too." Jake cried out as he stood up abruptly and began to pound unmercifully on the top of the car.
Neither of them spoke another word. Edward covered his face with his hands as he let all of this information absorb into his mind. He was stunned. Bella had mentioned earlier tonight about a possible mutual connection with the stalker and a prior friend. He had blew it off. He had not considered the severity of her statement earlier that night. Now he really felt like a dumbass. Like Jake he now felt responsible for the possible death of Bella.
"Sir. We got a pulse and she is breathing on her own." The paramedic called out to Jake as they began to roll her into the ambulance.
Jake's head flew up as he raced to the ambulance. Edward followed right behind him.
"Can I ride with her? Please." Jake's face was swollen along with his fists. The paramedic look at him with a weak smile.
"Sure." He nodded his head to the driver to let him know he could close the doors behind him.
Edward stood there feeling such a tremendous amount of relief. Jasper silently approached him.
"What the hell happened?" He asked softly as he looked around at all the cop cars still in the lot.
"Someone attacked Bella out here. They nearly killed her." Edward replied ominously.
"Damn. So is that what happen to my car?" Jasper looked at the bang up dents on the top and on the side of his parked sedan.
"Not exactly." Edward chuckled bitterly.
"Is she going to be okay?" Jasper asked.
"Yeah, but guess what. She knows Riley." Edward looked at Jasper with a dark expression.
"Really? How?" Jasper was thrown by that statement.
"Apparently they met at the club where my cousin was brutally beaten and raped." Edward answered with a deep husky voice.
"What are you thinking?" Jasper gulped hard as he watched Edward's eyes glow with hatred.
"I'm thinking it sure is odd that he was here tonight when Bella got attacked. He was also at the club the VERY night that Alice was attacked. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the connection. He did it again Jasper." Edward's hands were curled into fists by his side.
"WAIT a minute Edward. It was never proven that he did that. You know as well as I do that happen six years ago and although the evidence laid heavy against him the District Attorney's office did not have enough to prove a case against him. So what makes you think you can make one this time?" Jasper felt the pit of his stomach drop as he watched Edward's mind working over time.
Six years ago he had barely kept Edward from going to prison when he attacked Riley then. Riley had been stupid enough to date Edward's ex-girlfriend Rosalie Harris. Jasper had not cared too much for the girl because she always flaunted herself in front of the guys. She knew she was beautiful. She also knew how to work a room full of men. The biggest problem men found when they dated Rosalie was that Rosalie was only in love with herself. She couldn't give a rats ass about anyone else. She was vain, selfish, and downright cruel.
Edward had found out quickly enough, He had ended their relationship. Rosalie had not taken it too well. She was not used to being dumped. She was the one who broke off the relationship not the other way around. A few months later when Edward remained single and refused to have anything to do with her she started dating Riley.
Riley however had spoke to Edward about it beforehand. Edward warned him he could date her but she was truly not the most beautiful sort of person she appeared to be. Six months later Rosalie Harris was found murdered. Someone had beaten her face so badly that they had to use her dental records to identify her.
She was also raped before she was strangled with a rope. Edward suspected Riley had done it. Riley swore up and down he had not. The two of them had argued for months about it and Riley was nearly thrown out of college. Edward had been dating a cute little freshman girl named Tonya at this time. He was crazy about her. A few nights after Riley and Edward had thrown fists at one another Tonya was also attacked but luckily for her she survived. She was beaten and raped like Rosalie but she was never the same girl again. Edward had pleaded with her to tell him or anyone who had done this to her but she remained silent. She swore to Edward and the cops she did not know who it was.
Edward to this day always feared that it had been Riley who had damaged Tonya and murdered Rosalie. Although he hated Rosalie he never wanted her to die such a brutal death. Riley graduated early and left the fraternity house immediately. He had not been seen or heard from since. The only reason Jasper had invited him was because he had ran into him in town. When they started talking he felt that it was only polite to invite his former fraternity brother to his showing. He had forgot to warn Edward about a possible appearance of Riley.
"He knew I knew her. He also knew I cared about her." Edward replied coldly.
"Maybe he did but why would he be stupid enough to attack her outside here with you and me inside knowing that we both knew of his history? It doesn't make sense to me. If, and I'm saying IF he was that guy who did all those terrible things back then he would not tried to kill her right under our noses. He would know we would lead the cops to him. No, I think this was someone else entirely." Jasper shook his head.
"Either way I am going to find him and smash his head in." Edward growled.
"No your not. You're going to calm down. If you use that pretty little head of yours then you should hire a private investigator. Find out what he has been up too for the past six years. See if he has been around any other victims before you accuse an innocent man of a crime he did not commit. Please Edward think on this." Jasper sighed exasperated.
"Fine! I will do that but if I prove that he did this I will kill him this time Jasper." Edward warned as he stormed off to his own car.
Jasper looked back at his damaged vehicle.
He hoped he was able to convince Edward not to do anything stupid. After all he knew how Riley would react if he was cornered and how lethal Edward would become when he thought someone he loved was in danger.
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